


None-Yet

by Lukenthius



Series: Plot Bunnies [32]
Category: Dawn of the Dragons
Genre: First Time, Gen, POV Male Character, Parent!Roland, Plotbunnies, Reader is a DragonRider, Second Person, Story Cuts Off Suddenly
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-18
Updated: 2019-03-17
Packaged: 2019-11-23 09:26:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,255
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18150059
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lukenthius/pseuds/Lukenthius
Summary: When the Hero of Burdens Rest fails their quest, a last ditch effort sends them back in time to try again... only problem is...You got sent back too far.No problem. You just have more time to prepare.





	None-Yet

Devin looked around the darkness around him. Most of his memories were blurry at best, though he was able to say what was happening in each one regardless. He searched his most recent memories and found them all blurry beyond recognition, but still somehow knew that he and a small group of others, had been trapped... somewhere. A Female elf, whose name he couldn’t remember, had sent him back in time... tough he couldn’t remember why.

He felt a mental tugging and looked around for a moment before letting his mind drift away. He blearily opened his eyes and found himself lying on a bed.

“Ah, he’s back!”

Devin turned his head to look at the woman standing beside him. She was wearing strange robes... a healer of some kind... seemed right. ‘ _Back? Where did I go_?’ he thought.

The Healer stepped back a bit to give him more room. “Welcome back, lad. You gave us all quite a scare there. You’re lucky I was in the neighbourhood.” Devin frowned and tried to move his head but the lady pressed a hand to his chest. “Don’t try to move. Even with my healing, your head wound was pretty bad.”

He frowned. “Head... wound?” he coughed, clearing his throat a little. He looked around the unfamiliar room and frowned. He knew he should know it but, for some reason, he couldn’t recognise anything in it. “Happen...” he coughed again.

The woman smiled softly. “You and some friends were playing a game, you were hurt pretty badly. That scar will be there for the rest of your life, I’m afraid. It’ll fade with time though, so it won’t be so visible when you’re older, but it’ll never fade completely.”

Devin nodded slowly. “Where...”

“We’re in the village physicians building. It was where they brought you after you got hurt. You’ve been asleep for a few days now.”

Devin frowned, trying to remember anything about his past, but was unable to picture anything. He didn’t know where he grew up, he had no idea if he had parents let alone what they looked like or what they did for a living.  He shook his head slowly, frowning. “I don’t...” he sighed heavily and pushed himself upright, waving off the woman’s chastisement. He closed his eyes as he became dizzy before looking her right in the eye. “Why can’t I remember anything?”

The woman blinked before frowning sadly. “Oh, I see... you’ve lost your memories... this can happen sometimes with head wounds.” She shook her head and smiled. “Don’t worry, you’ll get your memories back in no time!”

Devin frowned and sighed quietly. “If you say so...” he looked down at the sheets. “When will my memories come back... exactly?”

“Um... well, it depends really. Some people get them back in a few days, some can take longer, but don’t worry, I know you’ll get them back.”

Devin looked up at her, trying to determine if she was telling the truth or not.

.oOo.

An:

That was a re-write from the story below, which is much longer and written in the style the game is written in, omitting names.

.oOo.

You groaned silently as stared into the darkness. You hoped Medea’s spell had worked properly and sent you back in time and not caused some kind of irreparable damage. Not that you had anything to lose. You lost the war and all your friends that hadn’t come with you into the crypt. Even two of those that had.

“ _Hello?_ ”

“ _Solus?_ ” You thought back. You got the mental equivalent of a nod before your vision cleared up. You tried to move your eyes and found you couldn’t. It was a second before you realised you were looking through Solus’ eyes. “ _Where are you_?” Even as you asked it you recognised the room. You could never forget it.

“ _In the egg chamber. What happened? Last thing I remember was Xekara killing me_.” He looked around for a moment. “ _Now I’m a whelp again. I only just hatched. I don’t…_ ”

“ _I know. Medea used a spell to send me back in time. I was supposed to be sent back to the day we met but something went wrong I think. You weren’t supposed to come back and since you’re in the egg chamber then we came back too far_.”

Solus nodded and carefully made his way out of the egg chamber. Thankfully Belarius was still asleep so he was able to sneak past him. It was a long and tense few hours before Solus finally made his way out of the underground chambers. As he took to the sky you both breathed a sigh of relief.

By unspoken mutual agreement you had not spoken a word throughout except for warnings and silent expletives.

“ _So, what now_?” Solus asked.

You mentally shrugged. “ _Why don’t you come to Burden’s Rest? We can speak in person and sort all of this out. How far back do you reckon we are_?”

Solus shrugged. “ _I don’t know._ ” He watched the landscape fly past below him and flew on towards you. Neither of you were sure how he knew where you were. “ _What does it look like where you are?_ ”

You sent a mental shrug again. “ _I don’t know. I’m looking through your eyes. I think I’m unconscious, or, my body is at least._ ”

Solus growled slightly and snapped his teeth. You smile at his show of worry and send a mental hug along with your feelings of appreciation and love.

You travel together for several days before you regain feeling in your own body. “ _Ah! I think I’m waking up_.”

Solus rumbles happily. “ _Good. If this strange mental connection ends then I hope you are well. I should not be too much longer. I will be with you soon._ ”

“ _I know. I will see you properly in a few days_.” You focused your attention on your body and wince. “ _It feels like I’m being hit with lightning._ ”

Solus rumbled with equal parts amusement and concern and you focus on trying to wake up. You are suddenly aware of your body and what is around you. Your connexion with Solus is in the back of your mind, a constant steady presence that somehow keeps you grounded. You hear a woman crying. There are low voices murmuring something.

You crack and eye open and see your mother at your bedside, lying on your chest, crying. You had never seen her cry before and you hope you never will again. You see Roland standing behind her with a hand on her shoulder and the village healer standing at the end of your bed, head down and speaking softly to Mayor Tullian.

You gently close both hands and realise one is being held by someone. Your mother sat up suddenly. You realise she was the one holding your hand. “Oh Gods!” she cried and launched forwards to pull you into a hug.

You cough weakly and tentatively wrap your arms around her. You look at the completely shocked looks the mayor and the healer are giving you and turn to Roland with a raised eyebrow.

He smirked. “Welcome back to the living, kid.” You tilt your head slightly. “You and the other kids were playing some kind of game. They were chasing you, pretending you were an ogre. They beat you pretty bad. I found you bleeding out on the floor and brought you here.” He jerked his head at the healer. “This one said you wouldn’t make it but tried his damned best to save you anyway. You were almost completely gone just now as far as we could tell.”

You chuckled. “It’ll take more than that to kill me.” Now you remember. The spell sent you back during a game. You managed to fight back against the other children a bit and they hit at you harder than they normally would since you were fighting back. You remember getting wounded badly and a strong pair of arms cradling you as they carried you off before you lost consciousness. “Thanks.”

Roland nodded. He turned and left, waving over his shoulder. “Well, now I know you’re okay I can rest easy.” The door shut behind him and you smiled. You had always liked Roland. Even as a kid. He seemed to have a soft spot for you too. You had often found yourself in his back room, hiding out from the other kids when they were chasing you.

Your mother pulled back and looked at you. You smiled and bore with her gushing affection. She honestly had been worried about you and this made you feel strangely warm, but also a bit guilty as you hadn’t thought of her once during your travels. You didn’t even know if she survived the attack on Burden’s Rest.

Once she had finished assuring herself you were alive the healer pushed her aside so he could examine you properly. You noticed a number of bruises and cuts along your chest and arms and assumed your legs were just as bad. They were of little consequence though. The big wound was on the side of your head. One of the boys had a plank of wood with a nail in it.

Once he was sure of your regaining health he stepped to the side and bustled off to deal with a farmhand who had just come in with a pitchfork in his foot.

You look at Mayor Tullian and smiled slightly. He smiles at you. “You had us worried lad. The kids have all been told what they did to you and they’re all a bit shaken by it. I suppose most of them will be by to apologise soon, now that we know you’re okay.”

You nod and smile slightly, leaning back into the bed, strangely drained just being awake this long. The healer looked over. “If you’re tired, go back to sleep. You need to rest.”

You looked to your mother who gave you watery smile and bade you goodnight. As you slip off to sleep you think to Solus. “ _You’ll like my mother._ ”

Solus rumbled back. “ _You already met my parents, I believe._ ”

You chuckled and slipped off to sleep.

When you next wake up, its morning and the village healer is doing his rounds. You take better stock of yourself now and realise you’re about eight years old. “ _We came back further than I thought._ ”

“ _How far?_ ”

“ _Well, I’m about eight now. So... ten years or so?_ ”

Solus kicked at a pebble on the path through the trees... “ _Really? That’s a bit far._ ”

You nodded slightly and smiled as the healer checked you over. You answered his question and mentally chuckled as Solus rounded a bend and came across a group of mounted soldiers. He nodded to them and slipped past, keeping an eye on them as he did.

One of them actually leaned towards another and asked. “Why isn’t it flying?”

Solus turned to him and raised a wing. “My wings got tired.” He carried on walking and broke into a jog when he got past them. The both of you were laughing madly in your minds, not allowing yourself to make a noise out loud. “ _Did you see their faces_?”

You chuckled. “ _Yes. I believe you will be the talk of the next tavern they go to._ ” You managed to get yourself under control enough to not arouse suspicion and the healer gave you some breakfast and told you to rest. Your school teacher came by not long later with some books for you to read. You grimaced and whined but were glad for something to do. Really you didn’t mind studying. While you did rely heavily on Lucian’s knowledge during your travels you did find it hard to follow the simplest of his conversations, when you would have found it much easier had you paid attention in school.

You read the books, making sure Solus heard so he could gain a better understanding of human history and society. Most of it was actually very easy since you had already done this once before.

Your mother came by around noon but had to leave soon after to get back to the store. She had been by this morning but you had been asleep.

Both you and Solus were very bored for the next few days. The seemingly endless stream of children coming to apologise for nearly killing you had amused you both at first but it got tired after a while. You read all the books your teacher gave you to read and were slightly surprised by how much you learned from them, showing just how little you had paid attention the first time round.

Finally you were released from the Healers home and were shooting out the door faster than anyone had any right to move at. Moving as stealthily as anyone can you sneak into the forest and make your way through the trees. You pounce on Solus as soon as he comes into view and you spend the next few hours just reaffirming your bond and relishing in each other’s company.

Soon enough you have to leave and after one final scratch to Solus’ eye ridge you make your way back to the village. You find a large group of other children easily enough and thankfully it’s the ones you remember hanging around with the most as a child.

You rush up and they welcome you with open arms. Soon enough you are in the midst of some game or other. You can’t play for long though, as parent’s soon come around to bring children in for the evening. You make your way home and melt into the hug from your mother. It had been far too long since you had felt this love. Sadly, the next day was a school day and after dinner you were sent to bed to rest after your ‘horrible ordeal’. Honestly, you’d had worse. The wounds you got from the purple orcs and quilladrians were bad enough, coupled with what you got from- no. you weren’t going to think about that...

You wake in the morning feeling refreshed. You give a quick morning greeting to Solus and head downstairs. After a quick breakfast you head off to school, dragging your feet like usual. Just because you want to learn everything you can, doesn’t mean you actually _want_ to go to school.

You get there just in time and file in with your friends. You make sure Solus is paying attention to your class. If you have to suffer through it, so does he. Surprisingly he doesn’t seem to mind and is fascinated on how humans educate their young.

“ _It’s strange that you leave all the education to one person. Among dragons teaching the young is usually up to the parents or is done by several members of a thunder._ ”

“ _A thunder_?”

“ _A group of dragons._ ”

“Hey, are you paying attention?”

You look up at the teacher. Normally she would be glaring at anyone not paying attention in class but this time she is looking at you with concern. You smiled slightly. “Yes ma’am.”

She hummed. “Are you sure you’re okay to be here?”

You nodded. “Yeah. I’m fine. Fully recovered.”

Madam Sayla nodded. “Then perhaps you won’t mind telling me what we were talking about just now?”

“Me paying attention?” You answer cheekily. At her slight glare you sigh slightly. “Just trying to add some humour. We were covering the Iulian empire.”

She nodded and went back to lecturing. At break one of your friends confronts you. “Why didn’t you say you weren’t feeling well?”

You grimaced. “If I had I would have spent the rest of today and probably tonight at the healers. I just want things to go back to normal.”

She grimaced and nodded. “Right. I understand. Anyway, what do you want to do?”

You shrugged and let your friends lead the games. It seemed strange that you could play these games again. They had all lost the element of fun they had as a kid. You don’t see the world the same way you did before. After school you spent a while playing chase with your friends and delighted in being able to jump easily over small walls or other obstacles.

Eventually you were able to slip away and went out to the forest to see Solus. He had gone hunting while you were with your friends and had already eaten. At least you never had to worry about your friend starving. You spent a while together before you headed back out. It was a shame you couldn’t let anyone know about him. It meant you would barely get any time together.

Over the next few weeks you steadily got used to being a kid again and Solus grew much faster than he had the first time around. Over that time (much to your delight) people began to forget about your injury, despite the scar being quite obvious. A lot of your free time was spent trying to emulate the tricks Rissa did during your many adventures. You started small, with forward rolls and cartwheels.

Finally it was the weekend again and you and your friends were playing. One of them suggested a mud war and so you found one of the unused fields and set to throwing mud at each other. Thanks to your training you were able to avoid any mud thrown at you by ‘the enemy’. Soon enough all your friends had turned on you and you were leaping and ducking around mud bombs from all sides.

Finally they gave up and begged you to teach them how to do that.

And thus you began to teach all the children in the village to move around like a gnome thief. You had yet to decide if this was a good thing.

.oOo.

Two years after you had come back you were standing at the edge of the forest just looking over the village. You sighed and walked further into the forest. The town guard had been attacked by a group of bandits. Three of them hadn’t survived their injuries.

Most everyone had the day off today and tomorrow to morn. You walked further into the forest, following the now well worn, but hidden, trail. It was only a few moments before you came into the clearing and found your target. You walk over and sat next to him, handing him a pie.

“I’m sorry for your loss.”

He sniffled. “Why? You didn’t do it.”

You nodded and glanced over at Ogen before staring ahead again. “It’s just an expression.” You’re both silent for a moment before you speak again. “I never knew my dad. He died when I was a baby. I don’t know what kind of man he was, or what kind of person he wanted me to be. Mum tells me about him but all I have is stories. I never knew him.” You turn to face him. “You have a lot of good memories of your dad. You know who he was and who he wanted you to be. You have something to strive to be. You can do him proud and know you did. I’ll never know if my dad is proud of me.”

Ogen looked at you and sniffled, wiping his nose on his sleeve. “What?”

You smiled gently. “Cry because he’s gone, but once you’ve done that, be happy for what you had with him. Be happy for the life he led. Celebrate the life you had together and try to grow into the man he would want you to be. Remember the happy times and smile because you knew him and know he’s watching you from the heavens.”

Ogen smiled slightly for a moment before he burst into tears. You gathered him into your arms, making sure the pie didn’t get crushed or dirty as you did so, and held him while he cried. Solus watched from the trees where he was hidden as Ogen had run right into his clearing.

Once your friend had cried himself out, he pulled back and you gently cleaned his face with a clean handkerchief and held out the pie again. The both of you spent the next few hours just sitting and eating the pie your mother had baked while Ogen told you stories of things he had his dad had done.

Ogen finally just sighed. “The one thing dad had always wanted to do was take me to see a dragon. I know it’s stupid but I really want to see one and dad always promised to take me to see one.”

You glance over at the trees and look at Solus. He nods and you turn back to Ogen. “Can you keep a secret? Like a massive, life changing, if you tell anyone it would put everyone in danger kind of secret.”

Ogen looked at you strangely. “Yeah.”

You nodded and pointed behind the both of you. He turns slightly and gaped as Solus carefully made his way between the trees and back into the clearing. You note (not for the first time) that you are going to have to either cut some trees down or find a bigger clearing. Ogen breathes a huge sigh or awe. “Is that?”

You nod. “That’s Solus. He’s mine. He hatched two years ago and came all the way here from half way across West Kruna just for me. I’m his rider.” You stand up and dust yourself down. “Want to ride him?”

Ogen nodded. “Yes!” he jumped to his feet and dusted off his trousers.

You picked up your mother’s tea towel and pocketed it before moving over to Solus. Since it had been two years since you met, as opposed to the few months you had the first time, he is a lot bigger. You easily climb up onto the top of his foreleg and offer your hand to Ogen. He takes it cautiously and you then climb onto Solus’ back and again offer your hand to Ogen.

Once the both of you are secure Solus takes off, thankful for the ridge at the forest edge giving him enough room to clear the trees without being seen. You hold tightly to Ogen and make sure he doesn’t fall off. He is ecstatic and holds both hands in the air before letting out a loud whoop.

Once Solus lands again you help Ogen off and he stands on the floor a moment just trying to get his feet used to the floor again. He looked up at you. “Thanks.”

You nodded. “You can’t tell anyone, okay? If the wrong people hear about this they’ll burn the whole village down.”

Ogen nodded. “I know. I won’t say a word. Promise.”

You stare at him for a moment and nodded. “Come on. Let’s get back, before people start to wonder where we are and send a search party.”

Ogen nodded. “Okay. Bye Solus.” Solus rumbled back and the two of you leave the clearing and head back to the village. Ogen looked sideways at you. “You know, I feel a lot better now. Thanks. You’re right. I need to be glad for what time dad and I had together. Besides, I have to be strong for mum.”

You nodded. “Seeing your mom cry is one of the worst things you could ever see.”

Ogen tilted his head. “When has your mom ever cried? She’s one of the most ferocious people I know.”

You smiled. “You remember two years ago, when I nearly died?” he thought for a moment before glancing at the scar on your head and nodded. “She cried then. It was the first thing I saw when I woke up.”

Ogen grimaced. “Right.” you travel in silence for a minute or two before he looks at you. “What’s it like, not having a dad?”

You shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ve got nothing to compare it too. I don’t know what it’s like having a dad so I can’t tell you what it’s like without one.”

He nodded and you travel in silence until you get to his house. You give him a one armed hug and see him through the door before heading home. You wash up the tea towel and start on some cleaning around the house. Your mother walked in, leaning against the door frame. “Oh, sweetheart, you’re back.”

You looked up and smiled. “Yeah. How are you doing?”

She smiled. “I’m fine. Just a touch of the flu. I’ll survive.”

You smiled. “I know. Why don’t you go back to bed, I’ll fix you something.”

She nods and smiles gratefully at you before disappearing back into her room. You turn back to the counter and sigh before fixing some soup for your mother. Once she’d eaten you cleaned up all the dishes and went off in search of Timon, the head farmer.

You found him easily enough and manage to persuade him to let you onto the fields to work. You were ten years old now, while still young for field work he understood. With your mother sick it was up to you to provide for the family.

.oOo.

Thankfully your mother had only had the flu and had recovered in a week and was back to her normal self. Ogen spent more time practising with his practice sword than before and the two of you often spent hours at a time training together. You convinced the blacksmith to make you a wooden pitchfork (it’s not a pitchfork! It’s a quadrant!) and you used it against Ogen’s wooden sword. You beat him every time but he was improving with every fight. The other kids all joined in and soon the blacksmith had made a decent sum of money selling training swords and ‘quadrants’ among a few other weapons.

By the time the next year rolled around everyone was much better at swordsmanship since they were determined to beat you and you kept thrashing everyone with both your pitchfork and your sword. Surprisingly, at the turn of the new year, the blacksmith and the mayor had gathered a group of the teens together and presented you with actual swords ‘On the promise that you not draw them unless in defence of the village’.

It was a promise you all made easily.

That was the start of you and Solus beginning to regain your reputation.

You had been given a mask by the town scout, Scot, and donned a black suit while you flew off on Solus’ back. You landed in the neighbouring village and took out numerous Kobolds. Solus had seen them there with his far sight. It wasn’t an organised raid by the dragons, just a bit of senseless violence.

The village was in awe of Solus and you made sure everyone knew his name, though you just referred to yourself as ‘The Dragon-Rider’.

Word spread soon enough about a dragon rider and you smirked every time it was mentioned. You and Ogen often traded knowing glances but surprisingly he didn’t say anything. You were sure the temptation would get to him eventually. It was a few days later that he pulled you aside.

“You need to think about telling some more people.”

You looked at him in question. “Why?”

“This is going to get out eventually, someone will see Solus, he’s getting really big now, or someone will recognise you or something. If no one knows it would be way worse when it comes out. Do like you did with me. Find someone you know you can trust to keep it a secret and tell them and make sure they know they can’t talk about it.”

You sighed and nodded. “I know. I’m gonna tell my mum soon. She’s gonna freak out.”

Ogen nodded. “I know. My mum freaked when I told her I wanted to join the town guard. She was crying like I was already dead. She really wanted me to have a much safer job, like working in the fields.”

You chuckled. “I don’t think that’s all that safe. Look at poor Freddie.” Freddie being the farmer who had come into the healers while you were there three years ago. He ended up with a permanent limp and had nearly lost his whole foot.

He was such a klutz. He had gone to rest against his pitchfork but had been holding it the wrong way up so instead of stabbing the butt into the ground he’d stabbed the prongs down and he missed the ground and got himself in the foot.

You and Ogen chuckled and you shook your head. “I know. I need to reveal it but I don’t really know how.” You sighed again. “I’ll get to it. I need to tell mum sooner than later.”

Ogen nodded. “Want me to be there?”

You shook you head. “Nah, I’ll manage.” He nodded and you parted ways.

.oOo.

The next few months were tense for you as you slowly introduced more people to Solus. The first person was of course your mother who just smiled and said she knew you were going to do great things. She gushed over Solus for a while before berating you for not introducing her to him when he was smaller so she could have seen how cute he was.

The next was Roland who actually fell to the ground laughing. “So much like your father. You just can’t blend in can you? Have to be different.”

When you introduced him to Solus Tullian the mayor had stared for a long while before turning to you slowly. “His name is Solus?” he asked.

You nodded. “Yes. I named him after you.”

Solus rumbled. “It is nice to finally meet my namesake.”

The mayor had gotten very teary eyed at that had you had suddenly found the need to retie your boots, while Solus watched a bird fly overhead, to give him a moment to compose himself. He profusely thanked you, for both allowing him to know such a huge secret and naming your dragon after him. “It’s such an honour. I don’t even know what to say...”

You gently reached up and gripped his shoulder. “Then don’t say anything. I can see how much this means to you. You don’t have to say anything.”

He laughed. “For an eleven year old, you seem far too mature. You really don’t act your age.”

You smiled and chuckled. “Yeah, but I have Solus so I have to be mature. Besides, after the accident, I’ve not really felt like a child.”

He nodded, immediately knowing what you spoke of. Every time you came across each other he looked up at your scar. His son had been the one to do it. “I see. I’m sorry that my son had to take your childhood from you.”

You shook your head. “Don’t worry about it.”

You also introduced Solus to a number of your closer friends. They all awed over Solus but agreed to keep it a secret.

Gil had been the only one to ask why, but he questioned everything even if he was going to do it anyway.

“If people find out that I’m here, that Solus is here, it’ll put a bounty on the village and my head. Bandits and bounty hunters will flock to try to kill me or get revenge for any allies I’ll kill. I’m a hero, saving people is what I do so I’m going to make a lot of enemies, and that’s only what the enemy will do. I am not ready to fight in the war and if the king’s men find out how old I am they might start bringing children into this war.”

Gil nodded. “Right. Okay. I won’t say anything.”

Several weeks later Solus had another vision and you got your suit on and were flying high in the sky to get there. Suddenly the world seemed to blink out of existence beneath you before coming back, several hundred miles from where you left.

You and Solus had circled in the clouds for a moment before you realised that Solus had teleported you that far. You both grinned and felt very accomplished having discovered this power.

.oOo.

The next couple of months passed by in a bit of a blur. By this time you had told almost a quarter of the village about Solus but you were wary of mentioning it to almost half. You and all the other children were much more acrobatic than before and the village had started to gain a reputation for it since the kids playing in the village spent as much time jumping from roof to roof as they did running in the streets themselves.

You were sitting on Solus’ foot as the two of you relaxed when Solus had another vision. You hopped onto his back immediately and pulled your mask down before you froze. Solus sensed your unease and paused.

“Where did I get my mask from?”

It was a few more weeks before you got an answer. All your weapons and armour (not that you had much) could disappear and reappear at will. This made you very happy as it meant you didn’t have to worry about not having the right weapon for the fight or being disarmed in a fight and you didn’t have to worry about anyone seeing you with your disguise since you could keep it gone until you needed it.

You were also able to start collecting weapons and armour that people gave you. Most of the armour didn’t fit yet but you knew you’d grow into it or sell it later. Your favourite piece though, was a red hood ranger cloak.

_You sat at the bar in the pub of the town you’d just saved. Solus was roaming the nearby countryside for a couple of cows or something as he was quite hungry and he didn’t want to eat too much from one place. You sat at a table with a man in a red cloak. He looked you over. “Bit young to be drinking aren’t you?”_

_“Only alcoholic stuff. This isn’t alcohol.” You had promised Roland to let him be the one to serve you your first drink._

_The ranger raised an eyebrow and shrugged. As the evening progressed, you don’t know how it got onto the topic, but the ranger was boasting, saying he knew more about the Dragon-Rider than anyone in West Kruna. You smirked and tricked him into making a bet, his cloak for your sword. It was a nice sword and you had never used it as it was too heavy and threw you off balance a bit due to your size._

_He laughed and you shook on the bet before he dared you to name one person that knew more about the dragon-rider than he did. “The Dragon-Rider? Or perhaps his dragon? Maybe his mother?”_

_The ranger stared at you in shock for a moment before spluttering out a few indignant noises. A man leant over from the next table over. “Kid’s got you there.”_

_The ranger sighed and took his cloak off, passing it to you. You smirked and shook his hand again. “Pleasure doing business with you.” you walked out of the pub and didn’t bother to hide yourself as you left town. You could tell the ranger was following you, he must be a novice. When you had gotten far enough from the village you stood and waited. Seconds later Solus touched down and you leapt up onto his back, years of practice making the jump easy. As he took off you turned to the ranger and waved before the two of you blinked out of existence for a moment, reappearing back near Burden’s Rest._

You and Solus had laughed about it for days after and so had Ogen and Riani when you told them about it.

.oOo.

As time passed you watched things change more and more but Solus assured you that things would still be on track at the start of the war.

You were now fifteen and Riani had just spoken to you and Gil about sneaking into The Plundered Dungeon to get your first drink.

You smiled fondly at the memory of when this had happened in the original timeline. Things happened a bit differently this time around.

You sat waiting on the roof, looking down at Riani as she waited. She huffed in impatience and looked around. Finally Gil showed up. She looked him over and huffed. “What the hell are you wearing? I told you to bring a mask!”

“This is a mask.”

“It’s a pair of shorts! This is a mask!” she tugged at the cloth over her face.

“Well we don’t all ‘ave bandits for dads.”

“He’s not a bandit! He’s a scout!” she snorts and turns away.

“Shh. You’ll wake the farmers.” You hiss and drop off the roof. “Now if you’re both done arguing, I’ve been sitting on that roof for the past half an hour. My ass is cold. Can we go?”

Riani looks at you. “What is that?”

You smirked. “A Red Hood Ranger’s cloak. Won it in a bet.”

Gil grinned. “Cool.”

You smirked. “Come on, let’s go.”

Together the three of you sneak across the fields and into the town. You creep around moonlit buildings, pressing up against cool walls, peering round corners and looking into shadows but there’s no need for caution. Everyone in the village is asleep at this time.

You reach The Plundered Dungeon without meeting anyone and you head around to the backdoor. Riani reaches for the door handle and you all glance at each other. She gently pushes the door and it opens. “Told you he never locks it.” she whispered. She steps inside and holds the door. “Hurry!” Gil slips in after her and you silently follow. The door clicks shut behind you. You look around the shadowy room you could navigate in your sleep. It looks so much different in the dark.

As you walk through the room Gil stumbles into something and stifles a cry.

Riani looks sharply at him. “Careful.” She looks back. “The tap rooms through here.”

As you walk past Gil you feel him grab the neck of your cloak and follow.

A short corridor leads to the tavern’s main chamber, where argentine light drifts between the shutters. It sculpts the outlines of round tables, numerous chairs and a long counter. Riani presses a hand to her masked mouth, stifling a giggle. “Too young for a strong drink, are we?” she slides behind the bar and picks up a tankard. Her other hand moves to one of the taps on a barrel.

You silently groan as a voice answers from the other end of the room. “I’d say so.”

Gil squeals and the tankard falls from Riani’s hand and clatters on the floor.

“And that goes for all three of you.” Roland says. His broad-shouldered frame steps away from the darkness at the bottom of the staircase and passes in front of a shuttered window. Narrow strips of light glimmer on steel.

“Run!” Riani shouts.

She bolts past and pushes you against a table on the way past. Gil squeaks again and runs off, tugging your hood as he did so. You shout after him and turn to run, not really trying to escape.

“Ha!” you feel strong arms wrap around you. You struggled a bit before you were lifted up and carried across the room. Roland set you down on a barstool before lowering your hood. You grin sheepishly at him. “Why am I not surprised to see you here? And if I don’t miss my guess that was Riani and Gil who just ran out of here like the hounds of hell were after them.”

You nodded. “Yeah.”

“That desperate for your first ales?”

“Don’t tell my mom. She’ll-”

“Give you the belting you deserve for breaking into a man’s home?”

You sighed slightly. “Yeah.” Sometimes you wonder if your mother would be more easy-going if your father were still around.

Roland laughed and reached past you, picking up a tankard. “You want a drink so bad? I’ll get you one.”

He goes to the other side of the bar and while his back is turned you let a smirk across your lips for a second before you school your features and plaster a shocked expression on your face. Roland pours a light beer into the tankard and places it on the bar in front of you. “Here.”

You look up at him, wide eyed. “Really?”

You grin and bring the drink up to your lips. You take a sip and start chocking on it, your young body unused to the burn of alcohol. Roland laughed. “See. That’s why you should wait until you’re old enough.”

You clear your throat. “Old enough to kill, old enough for all the fun stuff.”

Roland looked sadly at you for a moment and you suddenly wish you could take it back. You instead lift the tankard again and barely avoid coughing at the alcoholic burn. Roland sighed and poured himself a Skullsmash. He always had a barrel even though he was the only one who drank it. You both sit in silence for a moment before you look up at him. “Tell me one of your stories?”

Roland smiled slightly. “Which one?”

“The one where you got Rogar’s Dream?” Roland smiled and sat at the stool next to you, beginning his tale. It had always been one of both your favourites.

By the time he had finished you had both drained your tankards and you knew that if you didn’t get home soon you would get no sleep tonight and you were working in the fields tomorrow.

Roland picks up your tankards and goes behind the bar to clean them. “I’ll see ya later kid.”

You walked over to the door. “Yeah. Thanks for the beer... dad.” You quickly scarper out of the tavern and leap onto a roof, practically flying over the buildings and heading home. You jump in through your window and sit down heavily on your bed. “Oh gods...” you burry your face in your hands. “Did I seriously just call Roland ‘dad’?”

“ _Yes you did._ ”

“ _Not helping, Solus._ ”

“ _Get some sleep._ ”

You sighed and lay down. Easily falling asleep.

.oOo.

It was now a year later and you had just stopped a beastman war band from destroying a large town and were relaxing in a tavern when a little gnome caught your eye. You smirked and snuck up behind her, though you could tell she knew you were there. “I think you should put that back where you found it, dear.” You whispered and carried on towards the bar.

She blushed slightly and quickly attached the purse back to the man’s belt before coming over to sit next to you at the bar. When she ordered you slid the gold over to the barkeep and his accepted it without a word. Rissa looked sideways at you. “You hoping to get lucky tonight luv?”

You chuckled. “No. But if you were going to be using someone else’s money to buy a drink then why not let me buy you one?”

Rissa shrugged. “Well, suppose that makes sense.” She looked you over for a moment. “Here, ‘old on a bloomin minute. Are you that Dragon-Rider bloke?”

You nodded. “I am, yes.”

“Bloomin heck.”

You laughed and spent the rest of the evening with Rissa.

.oOo.

You woke up with a warm body curled into your side and winced at your pounding headache. Did you get very drunk last night? Yes. Hang over. Ow. You slowly peel one eye open and close it again when you see the top of Rissa’s head nestled into your chest.

It was only moments later you feel her wake up and you tighten your arm around her waist. She stills and you both just lie there for a while before Rissa sighed. “You ever done this ‘fore?”

“Never.”

“At all?”

“At all. This was my first.” Sadly enough that was completely true. You had your eyes on Leo the last time around but she’d died in that barn fire that hadn’t happened yet. No one else had caught your interest and you were a bit busy during your adventures and had never been with anyone.

“Oh. Well then...” there was an awkward silence for a moment before she sighed. “Well, least I can boast about being the Dragon-Rider’s first then... not that anyone would ever believe me.” she propped her chin on your chest and you assumed she was staring intently at you, though you couldn’t see since you had your eyes closed still. “You’re a lot younger than I thought you’d be.”

You nodded slightly. “Yeah. Don’t tell anyone about my age. The king’s men might start trying to draft children into the war if he finds out.”

You felt Rissa nod. “Alright. I won’t say anything.” She rests her head against your chest again. “You’re actually pretty comfy.”

You chuckled quietly. “Thank you, I think.” You both lie in comfortable silence for a moment.

“ _We need to go._ ”

You groan. “Ugh. Dragon’s calling. I have to go.”

Rissa chuckled. “Well then, Dragon-Rider, I’ll see ya round.”

You nodded and opened your eyes, slipping out of bed and getting dressed. You ignored the pounding in your head as you pull all your clothes on and quietly slip from the room. Your mask had still been on that morning but knowing Rissa she had taken it off while you were asleep.

.oOo.

Your mother had given you an earful when you finally got back. And Roland, though you only mentioned to him that you had shared the room with a woman, not wanting to know what your mother would say. You then spent several hours in Roland’s back room getting ‘the talk’. It was something you never wanted repeated. You could also have done without Roland laughing his ass off when you told him she was a gnome.

He was suitably apologetic when he realised you were serious before laughing again about how your first time had been with a gnome.

Strangely enough it was only a few days later you were approached by Leo. Seeing her standing in front of you, blushing was something you had never thought to see again. You ended up asking her round for dinner and she blushed heavily before accepting and rushing off. You then realised you hadn’t introduced her to Solus yet.

“ _Is she your mate?_ ”

“ _No, dear heart. She’s not. But I want her to be._ ”

“ _How do human’s court one another? Like you and Rissa?_ ”

You blushed slightly and headed back out to the fields. “ _No, Solus. Not like me and Rissa._ ” You then spent a good few hours telling Solus how human’s ‘courted’ one another.

That afternoon you spent a long time preparing food for Leo. You had always liked cooking, since your mother taught you at a young age. ‘ _A woman likes a man who knows his way around a kitchen._ ’

When Leo showed up you were nervous. This was technically your first date. Several hours later you were walking back home from walking Leo home. The evening had gone very well and you had even gotten a second date out of it. when you got back your mother and Roland were waiting for you and you ended up having to recount the entire evening to them.

.oOo.

The rest of the years passed by far too quickly. You got together with Leo when you were seventeen so you both decided to wait a few years before you ask her father for her hand.

A few months later Solus met up with Teresias and he agreed to join you on your quest. He and Solus lived together on the plateau Solus lived on.

By nineteen you heard the king had offered you a citadel. You were honestly surprised as the king hadn’t had any contact with you at all and yet was giving you a citadel now when in the last timeline he had passed on a few quests for you and hadn’t offered you one even though you had slain several dragons and done more impressive things than this time.

You managed to hire some men to build it and were told it would be finished in a couple of years. After working it out you realised it would be finished just before the start of everything in the original timeline.

As it turned out, when the workers realised that they were building the Dragon-Rider’s citadel they worked harder than before so even with the extra features (designed to keep out as many kinds of beastmen you could think of) they finished a year early. You paid them for the extra year anyway since they finished so fast.

You were very pleased that owning your own citadel was finally enough to allow Leo’s dad to accept your proposal. He hadn’t wanted his only daughter to marry a man who could die any day and leave her widowed and penniless.

After the wedding you rode a carriage a short way from the village and then switched to riding Solus. You teleported to the Citadel and spent two weeks there on you honeymoon. There weren’t many people living in your citadel yet, as you didn’t trust many people to not try and kill you so you had most of the place to yourselves.

By this time everyone in Burden’s Rest knew about you being the Dragon-Rider since you were now old enough that the King’s men wouldn’t start drafting children. Those you didn’t trust not to say anything were sworn to secrecy by Roland. You didn’t know what he did and you figured you were better off not knowing.

.oOo.

As you stepped out onto the fields you got a strong sense of déjà vu. Solus rumbled quietly. “ _It’s today._ ”

You nodded imperceptibly and set to work on the field. You kept an eye out and smirked when the Kobold’s showed up. They didn’t last long. They had come expecting to find weak, fearful enemies. Instead, four of them met your pitchfork before they realised what was happening. A further three died while trying to understand and two more died trying to retreat. Several of the other farmers had followed your lead. You were further forward than the others so less people were likely to get hurt. You stared down the Kobold Chieftain as he slew two of his minions and shouted something.

He turned to you and growled. You smirked and lifted your pitchfork, making a bring-it motion with one hand. The Kobold charged at you and you jumped over him, impaling him easily. Upon landing you hefted the pitchfork and threw the body at his allies. They screamed and ran, only to meet the blades of the town guard.

Natania looked to you. “They’re in the town.”

You nod and charge towards the village. You wished Solus were here but he felt he needed to be with Penelope as yesterday was the day she was turned. He was still with her now as she couldn’t teleport like he could and didn’t know how to fly yet so he was leading her towards Burden’s Rest by foot. She was small for a dragon, but too large to be considered a whelp.

You burst into the village and took out several beastmen. You quickly directed the town guard to go round the outside of the village and herd the beastmen inwards and the farmhands to take out any in the square. You look around the village and smirk as everyone around your age or younger is standing on a roof. You can’t see any of the children or the enfeebled and assume they are already at the keep.

You charge forwards and smirk at Roland as he leaps out of his pub window. “About time you showed up.” you felled two beastmen with the Chieftain’s sword. “What was keeping you, finishing a drink?”

Roland laughed. “Yes, actually.” He killed another. “Haven’t seen you in a while. Why don’t you stop by tonight?”

You laugh. “Sure. I could do with a drink.” You kill three more and press on towards the keep. When you finish with the beastmen you watch the scorpion man place his hand on the egg. His eyes glazed over for a moment before he turned to you. You rush at him and easily evade all his strikes. You cut off his pincer arm and stab him in the head with your pitchfork.

You look at the egg and wave Roland over. “Watch this for me. I’m going to check the keep.”

Roland nods distractedly and moves closer to the egg. You head to the keep with several of your men and charge when you see the beastmen inside already. Covering the ground is effortless now and you are all in the room before the doors are even half closed. Taking out the beastmen is an easy task and you charge through the keep. “I’ll take the path to the roof. Check the corridors and all the rooms.”

You sprint up the spiral staircase, taking out many beastmen on the way and come out on the ramparts. You see Mayor Tullian standing taking on the ogre. He smiles at you and you hurl your pitchfork at the ogre. It flinches his arm back, giving Mayor Tullian time to duck and you charge forward. You plant one foot on the club and another on his forearm. Your sword meets his face before he can react. You kick off as hard as you can and do a back flip in the air to land on your feet. The ogre stumbles backwards and then falls off the ramparts. There is a shout of alarm and you dash forwards in time to see the ogre land where Roland had been seconds before.

Roland looks at the orange dragon in his lap and gently strokes an eye ridge.

You nod in satisfaction and gesture to the Mayor to climb onto your back. You carry him back down and meet with all your men on the way down. Once sure the keep is clear you walk out onto the plaza and lay the Mayor against the wall of the keep. Many more people bring the injured over and the village healer comes over and starts tending to their wounds.

You walk over to Roland and reach down, helping him to his feet. You gently scratch the whelp’s eye ridges and look to him. “What are you going to name her?” she croons under your expert touch and starts to make a sound reminiscent of a cat purring.

Roland looks at the dragon. “I don’t know. I’m not sure I’d make a good rider.”

You shake your head. “You will be. Besides, she chose you. Nothing will change that. Think about it for a while. Whatever name you give her, it’ll stick and she’ll be stuck with it for many centuries. Dragons live longer than humans do.”

Roland nods slightly and looks back at the whelp. You move away from him and start directing people. You have the stronger men take to bodies of the beastmen out of the village. They pile them up on carts and drag them off. You direct some others to find all the wounded and dead from the village and bring them to the keep. The wounded are sat in the hall (Once the beastmen bodies are moved out) and the dead laid out in rooms upstairs. Family sat around them and mourned.

You take note of the orphans and are glad to see it is significantly less than before and already many of them are being taken in by other parents. Roland’s dragon is giving rides to the children, with worried parent’s watching on.

You smirk along with Solus as Penelope trips over her wing again.

Several hours later the death toll has been taken and grieving families are upstairs with their loved ones, saying goodbye. You are bandaging up a wounded guard when the guards from Fallows come in. You stand up and move to meet them. “Welcome to Burden’s Rest.”

The guards looked you over. The lead guard took a step forwards. “You’re the Dragon Rider?”

You nodded. “I am.” You reach out to shake his hand. “And you are?”

“Captain Blayden.” He explained about being sent to secure Burden’s Rest and enlist aid for fallows.

You nod and looked around. Many of your men are here and they all nod to you. You look to the guard. “We will fight with you.” The guards nod and don’t bat an eyelash when you start directing them to help the men clear the beastmen bodies out of the streets. They do seem surprised to see men running over rooftops and leaping over the main street.

They turn to you and you smirk. “I taught them that.”

A woman laughs as she drops down beside them. “You taught us a lot of things Dear. The fields are clear and most of the village is too. We should be done by tonight. I’ve got some men preparing the graveyard.”

You nod. “Good. Let’s hope no one else succumbs to their injuries. We’ve lost far too many today as it is. Thankfully none of the children.”

She nods. “It’s thanks to you really. If you hadn’t got us all running around on roofs then there would be more dead than we have. Most people were out of reach.”

You nodded and looked around. “How long until the damage is repaired?”

Another man steps out of the shadows behind you. “A few weeks at most.”

You nod. “See that it gets done. The sooner the damage is repaired the sooner everyone can move on.” You look over at the ogre. “ _Solus, what should I do about the ogre?_ ”

He thought for a moment. “ _I can move it for you. We’ll be meeting up with you soon._ ”

You turn away from the ogre and carry on with what needs to be done. Roland walks up to you, his dragon at his heels. “I think I know what to name her.”

You tilt your head and look at him in interest. “Oh?”

He nods. “Yes.” He looked down at her. “Alicia.”

You nodded and smiled. “It’s a good name.”

“I think it suits her.” Roland nods to you and scratches Alicia’s head. He walks over to the ogre. “How are we going to move this lug? All of us could lift him but there’s not enough room for us all to get a grip.”

You smirked. “Solus will help when he gets back.”

.oOo.

You make sure your armour is fixed in place before stepping out of your home. You look at Solus as he stands. He had arrived last night with Penelope, without being seen by anyone.

As you walk forwards you nod to Tiresias and Penelope and move towards the village proper. Most people slept in the keep last night but some people went home. Mostly those of you who were leaving tomorrow.

When you get to the keep you see all your men standing and waiting for you. Roland is there with Alicia. You smirk at the guards from Fallows and quickly introduce those coming with you to Penelope. You then introduce all three dragons to Alicia.

After the Fallows guard has pulled themselves together you all head out, the three adult dragons taking to the air. Penelope lands not long later with Solus as she was unsteady on her wings and wasn’t comfortable flying for long. She follows along behind the army while Solus walks up front with you. Alicia leaps about his heels and looks up at him. He rumbles and nuzzles her head briefly.

You smirk. “It’ll be good for her to have some adults around to guide her.”

Roland nods. “So... how did you and Solus meet? You never told us.”

You looked to him and sigh. “That’s a long story. Involving an elf, The Crypt of Caracalla, the Lost 13th legion of the Iulian Empire, Blue orcs, losing the war, and ancient scroll and a time travel spell.”

He looks to you. “Okay, now I _need_ to hear this.” You laugh and quietly explain to him about being from the future by several years. “Seriously?” you nod and he looks ahead. “So I wasn’t supposed to meet Alicia?”

You shrugged. “If you weren’t supposed to meet her than I wouldn’t have come back in time. The fates work in mysterious ways. Since Solus and I came back we’ve already made a difference. Heck, we discovered Solus’ ability to teleport so we’ve already saved those orcs.”

Roland nods. “Of course you would do that. You’re a hero.”

You smile. “So are you now. With Alicia by your side you’re a dragon-rider now.”

Roland looks at you in surprise. “I am at that, aren’t I?”

You look up at Tiresias as he flied down. “Trouble up ahead.” You nod and leap up onto Solus’ back.

Roland sighed and called up. “I won’t have to do that one day will I?” Your only answer was to laugh. “Thought so.” You and Solus take to the air and you put your helmet on. Time to help Medea.


End file.
